Thrill of Knowing a Tree Spirit
by FutureAuthoress
Summary: TOTALLY lame title, I know. ANYWAY, this is my cute fluffy little version of how Grover and Juniper met at Camp Half-Blood. Rated K for a little romance, heehee. Gruniper Junover Whichever one you prefer...R&R, it's appreciated!


**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**I want to apologize in advance for corniness XD. I also want to warn of spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth (and other possible spoilers).**

**ALSO**

**I'm sorry for the lack of Spandy writing lately. It's not like me to jump around writing fics for other shows/books...but on the other hand, it is SO like me to be scary-obsessive over something for a short amount of time.**

**SEEING AS HOW I love the Juniper/Grover pairing, I decided to write a fic for them before my scary-obsessiveness wore off. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns Juniper AND Grover. I just write the fics.**

**Time set between The Curse of the Titans and The Battle of the Labyrinth. Okay, that's all I'll say now. ENJOY!**

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A figure sat at the edge of Camp Half Blood, admiring the strawberry patches and the ocean from afar.

Grover Underwood, a young satyr no older than thirty years (that is fifteen in human years, mind you) sighed to himself, fingering the pan flute hanging about his neck. Things had been quiet since summer ended and all the campers who were _not_ year round had left. Annabeth Chase, and Percy Jackson, Grover's best (and only) friends at Camp Half-Blood were at their homes with their human parents, probably enjoying themselves.

In the valley below, other satyrs and nymphs played and chased each other, the dryads giving kisses to the rare satyr who could catch her.

Grover never participated in this game.

It seemed almost silly to him...which was saying a lot. Grover Underwood didn't find many things silly. Even today, when the loneliness was so bad it almost hurt, he preferred to sit on the sidelines and watch.

He blew a few notes on his flute, and the grass beneath his hooves seemed to blow animately in the wind.

"Hey, fella!"

A soft voice startled Grover out of his thoughts, and he glanced to his right to see a young hammidryad standing practically over him, smiling flirtatiously. He recognized her; Juniper, the tree spirit of...well...a juniper. Her tree was near Zues's Fist, a rock formation that was a camp favorite for Capture the Flag and other various physical activities. In fact, they weren't far from it now.

Juniper was one of the few surrounding nymphs who actually seemed to have a brain in her skull.

"Hi, Juniper." He said, quite unenthusiastically.

She sat down next to him. "You sound bummed." She told him.

He raised the volume of his voice. "Hi, Juniper!"

She giggled, a sound that almost had the ring of wind blowing through leaves high in a tree, on a warm summer's day.

It sent chills down his spine.

Grover would never admit it, but he'd had a crush on the young, pretty dryad for a long time. No no, it wasn't the silly way the other satyrs chased nymphs around just for the satisfaction of a kiss. He had real feelings for her. Well...relationships between the satyrs and the nymphs wasn't unheard of...but it was quite uncommon, and in the past, it'd been very special, and usually ended tragically. So Grover never brought it up. That, coupled with the fact that he'd been rejected by just about every girl he'd ever been interested in...it didn't spark enthusiasm.

Juniper put a delicate hand on his arm. "Play with us?" She asked. Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

Grover shrugged and shook his head, curly brown locks bouncing as he did so. "Thanks, no."

She pouted. "Please?"

He found himself blushing, but couldn't exactly figure why. "Not really my kinda thing," he mumbled, looking away.

She tugged on his arm. "Come on then, we'll do something else!"

Why was she paying him so much attention? Perhaps this was one of those scenarios the nymphs liked to dish out. A bit of a trick to get the satyr to lunge after them, and they'd pull a vanishing act or run before they could be caught.

Well, Grover would be prey to no such game...even though he really wanted to. Being tricked by Juniper, if it gave her a reason to laugh, couldn't be such a bad thing.

"Like what?" He asked, staring now at his hooves. His cheeks were burning. Juniper was really nice, not stuck-up or selfish like the other dryads. And she was smart, too. A little sensitive, but very smart. He figured perhaps that was what he liked about her; her intellect. Most of the wild spirits were quick and beautiful, but not very intelligent. Juniper was a one-of-a-kind.

"Ohh, I don't know!" She flipped her pretty auburn hair about, willing it out of her face and fighting with it against the wind. "Maybe..." She stood up and touched his forehead. "Tag, you're it!" And she ran off.

Grover was momentarily stunned, and he cogitated carefully his next move. He could either, one; sit on the ground where he was and come off as a complete jerk, or two; let himself be sucked into her game.

He decided to go with the latter, a smile crawling onto his face. He jumped up from his spot and took off in her direction.

He chased her in circles, around trees, through groups of satyrs and dryads, until he had an advantage; she came to a corner she wasn't expecting and slowed considerably. This gave Grover the time he needed to catch up, and he tagged her on the arm, panting and exhausted, but happier than he'd been in a week or so.

"You're it!"

Juniper was panting too, but when Grover took off, she chased him. This actually somewhat surprised him, because he expected her to get angry or upset, and stalk off and go play with the others.

He was no match for her speed, and she'd caught him in no time. Neither one of them realized how close to the creek they'd come, and when she tagged him on the arm, they both went stumbling into the water.

Laughter erupted from the both of them, and Grover found himself once again transfixed with the magical sound of it. It wasn't until moments later that he realized where Juniper actually was; right on top of him.

"You're it!" She grinned. But she didn't take off running.

"I..." He flushed crimson. "Y-you have to run for me to chase you." He stammered.

"Uh-uh!" She leaned closer to him, and his cheeks burned hotter—which he hadn't thought was possible. "I caught you!" She said. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Now you've got to kiss me."

Grover looked around for an escape. An excuse. A way to talk himself out of this one. His whole face must have been pink by this point. He tried to speak, but no words came.

She giggled, her hair slowly falling over her shoulders. "Alright," She reasoned, smiling, and climbed off of him into the water.

He pulled himself up quickly, water dripping from his dark curly hair and his casual 'CAMP HALF-BLOOD' T-shirt.

"You're soaked!" She seemed amused by this...

"Well...y-you knocked me into the water...into the water." He replied. No, not pink, red. Bright red.

Juniper's green eyes practically glowed, and she giggled. "Grover..."

"Juniper?" Grover replied, lamely. He wanted to say something...anything, to end this awkwardness. But truth-be-told, he wasn't good when it came to girls. Scratch that; he downright stunk. He twisted the bottom of his t-shirt, searching for words. This was embarrassing. Here he was, thirty years old, stammering over words because of a pretty girl. In human years, his life would be almost halfway over. Granted, being a Satyr he still had a very long time before his life was anywhere _near_ halfway over. That didn't make him feel any more mature.

She moved closer to him, their faces mere inches apart. He knew those inches could be covered in the blink of an eye. But...he didn't have the courage. Or the ability to make his cheeks go back to their normal color.

"Grover," She repeated. "I caught you. You owe me." There was that twinkle again. He couldn't tell if it was mischief, or...no, it had to be mischief. She was a dryad. They were mischievous.

Again, his mouth wouldn't move. He willed it to make words...but his tongue would have nothing to do with his mind. His mouth opened, then closed again. No sound. He just stared, dumbly.

Juniper smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him on the nose.

More blushing.

And he realized she was doing it too, her cheeks turning moderately green. She was...cute when she did that...

His whole mind was numb. Forget speaking, he couldn't even _think_. This was so un-cool. No, it was un-cooler than un-cool. He felt like a fool, sitting in the middle of the creek with a dumb look on his face. But then...there wasn't really anything he could do about it. None of his muscles would respond.

Maybe he could be a rock. Yeah...a big, furry rock. In the creek. He liked that idea.

But before he could fantasize too much about being an inanimate object, he realized that Juniper was getting closer to him.

She smelled good. Like...well, like trees. Like berries, and leaves, and earth, and wood.

It was a gentle kiss. Not long, or awkward. Their lips just touched, softly. If Grover couldn't feel the burning red, he'd swear all the color had drained out of his face. But she was turning greener, too, which made him feel a little bit better about not being able to act like a normal person. Satyr...whatever.

Juniper smiled. "How about we go back to the clearing?" She asked.

"Umm...y-yeah, the clearing." Grover repeated. He suddenly remembered his hooves and jumped up out of the water, then extended a shaky hand to the petite tree spirit.

She giggled and took it, and he hoisted her up.

As they made their way back toward the other camp activities, Juniper whispered in his ear. "Let's hang out more."

It was all Grover could do to nod, stupidly, a dumb grin slapped across his face.

-----

**THE END**

**I hope you guys liked it! This is my first ever PJATO fic, so don't flame me, gosh!**

**Umm...explanations...see, I don't really have one...**

**I thought Grover and Juniper were cute together, anyway. And I was a bit bummed when I read The Battle of the Labyrinth, and didn't get to learn how they'd met! So I decided to write it in my own style. I know, I totally overdid it...HEY I'm a corny sap, sucker for love stories, no-good fangirling—you get it.**

**I'm going to be totally embarrassed if we learn about how they met in the fifth book (headdesk) But...seeing as how Rick Riordan seems to be more strongly encouraging the Percabeth thing, we probably won't get to hear about Juniper and Grover (cries).**

**Okay, yeah, I'm gonna go now. I'd appreciate a review or two!! =D**

**Hugs! from Meg**


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